GENERAL INFORMATION

SCHOOL TIMETABLE

School Starts: 9:00am

Morning Interval: 11:10am - 11:30am

Lunchplay: 1:00pm - 1:50pm

School Finishes: 3:00pm

OFFICE HOURS

The school office is staffed from 8.15am to 3.20pm. We suggest that you try to phone during this period.

ABSENCE FROM SCHOOL

Please phone the school office or contact the school via the school app by 9am to advise of absence or late arrival. We do have a checking system but it helps greatly if you contact us.

LATE ARRIVAL AT SCHOOL

Children arriving late at school must be signed in at the office upon arrival.

PICKING UP/DROPPING OFF CHILDREN

If you need to pick your child up early or drop them off late it is important that you inform the office so the class teacher and bus monitors, if applicable, can be advised. Non-bus pupils are to be collected from inside the school grounds on fine days or their classroom if it is wet. If you are picking up your child early or they arrive late during the school day you must sign them in or out at the office.

LIBRARY

Our school has a well-stocked library, which all classes have the opportunity to visit once or more a week. 

The library is also open at lunch time on a daily basis.

As you will understand, books are expensive items.  We ask you to assist us and ensure that children look after school library and reading books and return them promptly.  Late or missing books will be followed up by the school librarian, and will incur a cost if they can not be found.

MEDICATIONS

From time to time we are asked to administer prescribed medication to children.

On the basis of advice received from the Ministry of Education and the Public Health Nurses the following procedures will apply in such situations.

 If children are taking antibiotics it is acceptable for this to be administered at home before school, after school and before bed time.

In the event that medication is necessary at school for e.g. Asthma, allergies or specific health conditions a Medication at School Form must be filled out at the school office and the medication supplied is to be locked in the Health Room cabinet.

Where such advice is not provided medication can not be administered.

BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL CARE

A number of after school care groups pick up children from Ardmore School.  The nearest one to Ardmore School is Bizzybodz before and after school care.

Their programme is run in the school grounds.  For more information contact Jo Adamson on 530-9020/ 021 837-289 or office@bizzybodz.co.nz or go to www.bizzybodz.co.nz

AGRICULTURAL DAY

Reflecting its rural background and setting, the school holds an annual Agricultural Day at the end of Term 3.

Full details of the day, which involves both animal sections and in-class work, are advised to parents progressively from July onwards.

 ASSEMBLIES

 A whole school assembly is held, fortnightly, in the school hall on Fridays at 2.00p.m.

 Awards based on the previous week’s work, are made to each class at this assembly.

There is also singing and, from time to time, presentations.

Teaching teams also hold assemblies, as required.

ENROLMENT SCHEME

To avoid overcrowding the school operates an enrolment scheme.

A copy of the scheme can be obtained from the school office.  A description of the scheme can be found on this website.

NEW ENTRANT VISITS, 5 YEAR OLDS

 Children and their parents/ caregivers, once accepted for Ardmore School (either through being in the home area, or through “out of zone” enrolment) are offered the opportunity to take part in our 'Flying into Ardmore School' programme..

Flying into Ardmore School programme

In order to help prepare your child for beginning school, we have 4 sessions that help settle them into their learning journey. Two sessions are with parent/s staying and two sessions are in the classroom (without parents)  with their peers that have already begun . This allows the children to meet the teacher, familiarise themselves with their new environment and interact with their peers.  Times/ dates will be advised on enrolment.

COMPOSITE CLASSES

For a variety of reasons many of our classes are composite ones.

Often people believe that if their child is placed in a composite class, that child will be disadvantaged.  This is definitely not the case as programmes in each classroom are designed to cater for individual differences.

HOMEWORK

As a general school policy homework will be given to children regularly each week.

Homework is largely reflective of work being done at school.

REPORTING TO PARENTS

This takes the following forms:

A Transition meeting early in the school year

A written report and conference mid-year 

An end of year written report in December or

Parents wanting to see teachers may do so at other times. 

Small matters can be dealt with by just dropping in but for more complex issues an appointment should be arranged.

DENTAL CLINIC

Children from Ardmore School can access the Dental Clinic at Papakura Normal School 

Phone (09) 298 3028.

 Forms to enable a child to access dental care from this source are completed at the time of enrolment.

 Parents are advised by newsletter re: dental care during school holiday periods.

NEWSLETTERS

One of the main means of communicating with parents is via the school newsletter.  If there is room in the newsletter, any person or group can have a notice published.  Simply drop it into the school office or email it through.  Parents are notified well in advance of any trips or general “happenings”.

Copies of the latest newsletters can be found on the News page on this website.

COMPLAINTS

Though complaints are not frequent at Ardmore School it is important that parents are aware of procedures for raising concerns.  It is important that any problems you have are addressed immediately to prevent issues escalating.

A copy of our Complaints Procedure is available from the school office or at www.schooldocs.co.nz.  Find Ardmore School, enter username ardmore, password aim_high.

MONEY

Children are not encouraged to have money at school except for occasional events.

PARENTS SUPPORT GROUP

Being a sub-committee of the school Board this group actively supports the school.  Some of the main activities are:  lunches, social functions, fundraising and parent liaison.

Everybody is more than welcome to be part of this group and any help would be appreciated.  Any queries should be addressed to the school office or the principal.

 BUS

Children within a Ministry of Education defined area are entitled to free bus transport,  providing they are a sufficient distance from the school.

For out of zone parents, if you would like your child(ren) to travel to and/or from school by paid bus, please contact the office.  There may be a waiting list if the bus is full.

Prompt payment of bus fees is necessary to secure your child’s seat.

STATIONERY

Stationery can be purchased from the following website www.schoolpacks.co.nz and will be delivered to your home.

During the year if your child needs more stationery teachers will send home a note and items can still be purchased from the schoolpacks website.

SCHOOL APP

The school has an app which can be downloaded free from ios or android stores, search schoolappsnz, download this and then find Ardmore School.  We use this to communicate with parents.  It is important that parents/ caregivers have access to this.

SCHOOL DONATIONS

The school has opted to be part of the governments Donation Scheme, therefore we are not asking for a school donation at this time.

SCHOOL PAYMENTS

 Any school payment can be made by direct internet payment although payment via Kindo on our school app is our preferred method of receiving payment.  Go to the school app, choose payments and sign up for an account.

Click on this link for more information about Kindo.

UNIFORM

All Ardmore School Uniform can be purchased from SAS Sport Ltd, Unit A, 28 Wood Street, Papakura ph 09 299-8412 

website:  The Uniform Shoppe

 It is asked that all clothing worn to school be named.  Lost property can be found in the Room 7 cloakbay.  Lost property is displayed regularly for the children to claim.  Periodically,  remaining lost property is disposed of.

WHĀNAU INFORMATION

The school is arranged into 3 whānau groups..

• Piwakawaka Years 0 to 3, Rooms 3,10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15

• Tūī Years 4 to 6, Rooms 1, 2, 7, 8, 9

• Ruru Years 7 to 8, Rooms 4, 5, 6

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS